Disenchanted Natures

A Critical Analysis of the Contested Plan to Reintroduce the Eurasian Lynx into the Lake District National Park

Bibliographic Data

ID7707261
AuthorsAlasdair Neilson (0000-0003-3758-0566, University of Edinburgh, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume32
Issue1
Pages107-125
Publication date2021-01-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueCapitalism Nature Socialism (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1045-5752 • E-ISSN: 1548-3290
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/10455752.2019.1680717
OpenAlexW2985886163
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited37

There is a need to analyse the environmental conflicts that arise out of species reintroduction proposals and what these conflicts can tell us not just about rewilding as a form of "conservation," but also the broader societal conditions in which the conflicts occur. This paper analyses the emblematic nature of the contested proposal to reintroduce the Eurasian lynx into the Lake District, where a complex history has resulted in both a distinctive landscape and unique economy. It is within this context that the emblematic nature of the reintroduction conflict must be analysed. The author argues that the spirituality of the Lakes, conjured through the artistic expression of the Lake Romantics, was within the context of the industrial revolution and the processes of industrialisation, urbanisation, and rationalisation. On the other hand, the proposal to reintroduce the lynx and the focus on personal redemption and "wildness" are a product of the capitalism of late modernity, defined by global capital and information flows, individualism, and the extension of rationalisation and financialisation into the social and natural world

Archaeology · Environmental planning · Environmental protection · Geography · National park · Plan (archaeology · Political science · Ecology and biodiversity studies · Indigenous Studies and Ecology · Wildlife Ecology and Conservation

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